God is awesome!! Hold Fast to your Confession.

Last week Wednesday morning, while I was cranking up my car, I realized that I didn't have my wallet. Being in a rush, I dashed back in the house to get my wallet. I assumed I put it on my dresser. But it wasn't on the dresser, so I looked all over the house, which I really didn't have time. I was already running late for work. So I thought maybe, I left it at the store that I stopped to on my way home. I got back in my car and I went to work. I said to myself, "Well, I just call the store when it opens and ask if anyone found a wallet."

I must admit I was starting to worry, but one of the teachers I worked with, Joyce, reminded me to pray for my wallet to come back to me. She even told me about how her daughter lost her permit on a mission trip. Joyce's daughter prayed to God to return her permit. Then three days later, someone found it and gave it to her pastor.

When the store opened, I called and the manager told me that no one had found a wallet. I was cool. I just thought it's home in my house somewhere. I was in rush trying to find it, so I must have been overlooking it. I must tell you this. I didn't have any money in my wallet, which I rarely carry cash on me. But I did have my driver's license, library card, credit/debit card, and an ATM card. After I got off of work, and pick up my two boys, I went home to look for my wallet. No wallet. I went to the store that I last stopped to and asked the manager again. No wallet. Then the manager had the audacity to say, "If somebody was behind you, they probably got it. And you will never see that wallet again." I thought to myself the devil is a liar. I cast down what she said immediately. How dare she said that. Does she not know the kind of God that I serve.

I began to pray in my spirit for God to return my wallet to me. I went back home to call my bank to make sure there were no unauthorized charges on my account. There were none. Praise the Lord. I did not cancel my credit/debit card right away because I just thought my wallet was somewhere in my house. I checked my car inside-out. I had my kids looked all over the house. You be surprise how fast they can stuff when you offer to pay them to find whatever you're looking for. :)

The next morining (Thursday), I told my prayer group about me misplacing my wallet. We prayed and came into agreement that God will return my wallet. By Friday afternoon, I decided to cancel me and my husband's (Larry), bank cards. Please undersand that I did not doubt that God will return my wallet. I wanted to be wise because I did not want to risk someone else charging my bank card and have overdrawn purchases on my account. Everyday I was confessing my wallet back into my possession. I was holding fast to my confession of faith.

I told God I said it would be nice to have my wallet back soon. Therefore, I would not have to go through the process of standing in the long at the DMV to get another driver's license. Today, I told my assistant teacher (Liz), whom I am close friends with and live only about 2 minutes away from, that if I didn't have my wallet by tomorrow, I would go on Wednesday, after work, to get me another license. The last thing I needed was to get caught by the police driving with one.

About 2 hours after I got home today, my friend Liz called me and said, "Toia, guess what? My son and his friend found your wallet on the ground in the bushes while they were walking through your neighborhood."

I said, "For real! God, you are awesome! Hallelujah!" When she brought my wallet to my house, I looked through it and everything was in there, including my driver's license. I can't wait to go to work tomorrow and share this awesome praise report with my morning prayer group and fellow teachers.

I give all glory and honor to God. Great is the Lord and He is greatly to be praised. No matter what it looks like, you have authority in Jesus name to hold fast to your confession and believe that God is more than faithful to answer our prayers. Not one time I doubted God returning my wallet. I stood my ground. I did not tell everybody about me losing my wallet. I told only those who would immediately speak postive, not negative, words to my situation. Most importantly, I told those who can get a prayer through.

Let us hold fast the confession of [our] hope without wavering, for He who promised [is] faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)

NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)


Your Sister in Christ,
Toia

Scripture Sunday

Psalm 95:1-7

(NLT)

Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us give a joyous shout to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come before him with thanksgiving. Let us sing him psalms of praise.
For the Lord is a great God, the great King above all gods.
He owns the depths of the earth, and even the mightiest mountains are his.

The sea belongs to him, for he made it. His hands formed the dry land, too.

Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker,
for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the sheep under his care. Oh, that you would listen to his voice today!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for so many things. God has truly been blessing me and my family. I am also thankful to be part of Thankful Thursdays.

I am thankful for God's grace and mercy. "My grace is sufficient for you.." - (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I am thankful for God's favor. "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life." - (Psalm 30:5)

I am thankful for living to see another day.

I am thankful for a roof over my head and food on the table.

I am thankful for having clean water to drink and bathe in.

I am thankful for me and my family's great health.

I am thankful for legs to stand on and arms to wave in the air.

I am thankful that my mom is still alive and well.

I am thankful that the love in my marriage is increasing everyday.

I am thankful for everything we tend to take for granted.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." - Philippians 4:6

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." - Psalm 84:11


Your Sister in Christ,
Toia

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Anxious, for what?

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; - (Philippians 4:6)

What does anxious for nothing means? It's simple. It means don't worry about anything. It seems easier said than done. Bottom line, God does not wants us to worry. He wants us to come to Him in prayer and to supplicate or transfer your anxieties to Him. However, you must do it with thanksgiving and prayer. Jesus said in Matthew 6:25 & 34, "I say to you, do not worry about your life. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

If Jesus said not to worry, then we shouldn't. You have to let your requests be made known to God. Tell God what you want and need. Even though God knows, hears, and sees all, He still wants to hear your heart's desire straight from your mouth. You have to open up your mouth and ask. Read what the bible says happens, when you ask God what you want or need,
"Ask, and it will be given to you;... For everyone who asks receives,." (Matthew 7:7-8) "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22)

When you are anxious for nothing, but in everything you pray and supplicate with thanksgiving, and let your requests be made known to God, then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)


Your Sister in Christ,
Toia

It's all good!

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28

When you are in the midst of a storm, it seems there is no way out. You may feel like there's no hope. Your situation becomes too hard to bear. The thing is God wants you to come out of the storm. He wants you have hope. He doesn't want you to carry the weight of your problems on your back. That's His job. God can't bear what you don't cast. "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." - (1 Peter 5:7)

Realize that no matter how grim your circumstance is God is in the midst. Even if your marriage seems like its falling apart, God is in the midst. Even if your children are misbehaving, God is in the midst. Even if you can't make ends meet right now, God is in the midst. Even if there is a lot transitions on your job that you are not too happy about, God is in the midst.

God is in the midst because He is working it for the good. He is working it out for the better so that He can get the glory, which He is more than worthy of. Hallelujah!! Things work out for the good for those who love the Lord. That means you have to trust God to make a way out of no way, regardless of what your circumstances are. You have to express your love daily to Him by praying and spending time with God. "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Deut. 6:5).

The storm that you are currently facing is not a coincidence. It's your destiny because once God works your situation on your behalf for the best, you will see God's purpose for you going through the storm and overcoming it.

Your Sister in Christ,
Toia

Don't Conform. Transform.

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is thatgood and acceptable and perfect will of God."- Romans 12:2

Secular TV shows, magazines, and movies have a way of making the world seem like paradise. All you can see is the glitz and glamour. Everyone seems happy and full of joy with no care in the world. At least that's what satan wants you think. Satan wants you to conform to the world so that you can become more vulnerable to his traps. You see, when you conform to the world, you are conforming to satan. You are conforming to the ideas and principles of the world, which are total opposite of the ideas and principle of the kingdom of God. You will begin to think, talk, walk the world ways. That my friend, is no way, shape, or form, pleasing to God.

Do not allow yourself to get caught in satan's deadly traps. I'm telling you right now, do not be ignorant of satan's devices. He means you no good. Satan cannot approach you in his true form. Otherwise, you will not give him the time of day. So, he has to think of other ways to get your attention. That's where the secular world comes in to play. It's all in the presentation. If satan can just get you just observe or conform to one worldly point of view that's not of God, he got you, hook, line, and sinker. And, it can be downhill from there.

To avoid conforming to the world, you have to stay alert, by praying and speaking God's word on consistent. Stand on guard. Put yourself on guard duty. "So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be sober" (I Thessalonians 5:6). "Be sober, be vigilant; *because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8).

When it comes to the world you can't conform, but you can transform. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You renew your mind by renewing your thoughts. This is where you delete the ideas and thoughts of the world and program ideas and thoughts of God's Kingdom. In the process of your transformation, you will began to see that the real paradise is the kingdom of God.

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5).

Yours in Christ,
Toia